The curative process was both fascinating and immense fun; then, playing it loud for people was liberating to say the least. “Hang on,” I thought. “Anyone that loves music could do this!”
Weeks later, a venue was secured and a line-up assembled. The scene was very different back then. DJs? Yeah! Throw a rock in the air! So I was keen from the off not to limit the programming; besides this had nowt to do with ‘mixing’ and Brighton to this day remains stuffed with artists and tastemakers harbouring some cracking record collections.
Five years on, I never really imagined I’d be fielding phone calls from the likes of Ashley Beedle or flown to the Alps for an all expenses paid snowboarding trip. Nor that I’d get to meet heroes like Orbital or drive a DJ-equipped ice cream van into Bestival. And along the way there have been so many moments of sheer, unbridled joy I couldn’t begin to pick any highlights.
Really though, the best thing has been attending the Fridays over the years and witnessing first hand people’s seemingly boundless passion for their music. This, infinitely more than anything else, kept Top 100 going. So Cheers everyone! Here’s to another five more.
Jim Brackpool, promoter of All Time Top 100 and SOURCE writer, has moved to London but the night lives on at Fortune Of War every Friday
